


Summer Flower Blooms

by heavenasunder



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: F/F, Forte is a dork, Mutual Pining, Presents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2020-07-08 06:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavenasunder/pseuds/heavenasunder
Summary: Eventual two-shot.Forte knows the heaviness of responsibility, but one person makes it just a little lighter.





	1. Chapter 1

Forte tightened her boots a second time and faced her blank wall. Sometimes in the heat of summer, putting on all that armor was just too much, and she was putting it off as long as she could.The heat stuck to her in her room, and a small, childish part of her wanted to ditch her duties and simply go to the lake today. She shook her head to dislodge the thought. She had a responsibility to the town, and she would not shirk it. Even if she felt she had wasted away the summer with nothing but training and patrol. That childish part of her reminded her of summers spent eating watermelon and swimming. Teasing Kiel and coming home, red from the sun to a home cooked meal. The memories made her chest clench. She tightened her boots once more, and began to dress for patrol.

The heat was no less oppressing outside. Somehow since those young and carefree days, the summers had seemed bleaker and bleaker. Like the town turned to an inferno, instead of a challenge. She wandered through the town square, greeting Vishnal and Clorica as Volkanon lectured them on the finer points of keeping the castle facade clean. Mid word, Volkanon raised a mighty hand and greeted her boisterously, as only Volkanon could. She smiled back at him and hailed him with a salute. 

As soon as they were out of sight, the day seemed heavier than before. She wandered down through town, passing Illuminata’s shop. She considered for a moment stopping in, and buying a flower, and putting it in her hair. It seemed something fitting for summer, but she immediately brushed off the idea. She was a Dragon Knight. Dragon Knights forsook frivolity. Or so she told herself, as the wafting scent of pink cats drifted by. Maybe she could bring one to Dolce, she considered, stopping next to the shop, but immediately felt heat rush her face. 

No, still too bold yet.

She wasn’t sure the point where it wouldn’t be too bold. She stopped by the clinic daily, and spoke with Dolce as much as possible if she could. She disguised her visits as a necessary part of her day, but truth be told, she didn’t need that many medical potions and she lingered longer than was probably polite. 

Forte couldn’t help the way she felt about Dolce. It had been an arrow through her heart since the first time they’d met, when she’d assisted Lest as the haunt–the old mansion. When the puppet monster had dissipated, and in it’s place, a beautiful woman appeared, Forte had lost all fear. Only felt the urge to help, to comfort. She had shook it off later as simply being a good knight, but as she better got to know Dolce, she knew it was something much more. 

Going from there, though? Forte had no familiar ground there. No angle she knew to approach it from. Besides, she was a straight shooter to begin with and she knew these things were handled more delicately than she was equipped for. Better to keep it to herself until she could figure it out. 

Heading down through town, she braced her courage as she made it to the clinic, a strange thing since she had no reason to fear anything there. Jones and Nancy were always kind and Dolce had never been anything but accepting of her strange new friend. And it wasn’t like she was confessing today, but the thought of her secret crush was enough to set butterflies soaring in her stomach. She breathed deep, and entered the clinic.

Nancy and Jones weren’t in, but Dolce was. She smiled, a small delicate thing, as Forte walked in. Forte nodded as her, feeling warm again in a way that had nothing to do with the heat.

“Good morning,” she said. Dolce returned her greeting, her voice such a sweet sound. They made small talk for a moment. The weather, town goings-on, and the like, until Dolce fidgeted slightly, and Forte frowned.

“Is something the matter?” she asked. Dolce regarded her for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, it’s just…” she trailed off for a second.

“Is something causing you discomfort?” Forte pressed, earnestly. Dolce smiled again, seeming amused.

“Discomfort?” she mused. “No, I just don’t know how to ask something. Never mind. I have something for you.”

“For me?” Forte asked, watching Dolce travel across the room. She pulled out what appeared to be a blanket and handed it to Forte.

“Don’t open it until you get home,” she threatened.

“Is it a blanket?” Forte asked feeling her skin prick at the thought of the extra heat.

“No. Tapestry.” Dolce responded, growing quiet. “I should be back to work.”

Forte took her leave and told herself that she imagined the pink across Dolce’s cheeks.

\---

Later that night, after she had shed her armor, sitting on her bed, facing her bleak bedroom wall, Forte unfurled the tapestry. As the colors and design became apparent, she laughed aloud, the joy in her chest too great to be contained.

She fell asleep that night facing her no longer bleak wall, adorned with a sunflower tapestry with a brave Dragon Knight in the center.

Summer felt just a little softer.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun rose lazily over Selphia, kissing the stone of the town in bright reds and oranges as it woke. Forte had been awake for hours. She watched the sun rise as she sharpened her sword, the sound of steel on whetstone the only sound except for Kiel’s snoring in the other room. It was almost time for her to do her morning rounds, but that wasn’t the cause of her anxiety this morning. There was a gift, just beside her, that she needed to give, but she knew the words that accompanied it would be the hardest part. 

She swore under her breath as she sheathed her sword. Morning rounds. Nothing more. She needed to be vigilant, not let her heart get the best of her. But even as she thought it, her heart beat a symphony in her chest. Just the thought of what she may say sent blood rushing to her face. How would she confess? How could she possibly say the words in her heart?

With a deep breath, she left her house, closing the door softly as to not wake Kiel. The town had not yet woken, and she took her time on her walk, checking everything to make sure nothing was out of place. She first crossed over to the castle, and said hello to Ventuswill as she passed. Usually, she’d stop to make conversation, but today she just wanted this to be over. So she could give her gift. So she could stop panicking. 

She told herself she wasn’t afraid of rejection, but she was lying. Dolce was a hard person to read on a good day, and although she had a feeling that she at least _liked_ her, she didn’t know if she had _feelings_ for her. The distinction was enough to send her reeling in self doubt and fear.

The rest of her rounds passed in a haze, a fact she’d stress about later. For now, she stood in front of the clinic, her gift trembling in her hands. This was ridiculous, she told herself. She was a Dragon Knight. A protector of Selphia. She could confess to her crush. It wasn’t like she was up against an enemy. Dolce was her friend, at the very least.

She adjusted her helmet, and entered, smiling at Nancy as she came in.

“She’s upstairs,” Nancy said, knowingly. She motioned with her head at the gift in Forte’s hands, and winked. Forte felt her face heat. Had she been obvious? She didn’t want to know. She thanked Nancy and took the stairs two at a time, up to Forte’s room. With a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came Dolce’s voice beyond the door. Forte pushed it open.

“Dolce?” she said. Dolce looked up from her embroidery. Forte always thought her breath taking, but especially when she crafted. There was something elegant about the way she held her hands. 

“Forte,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Ah, no,” Forte said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop by unannounced, but...”

“Hm? What’s that in your hands?”

“It’s uh,” Forte started, “it’s for you.” She held it out. It was a small doily that Forte had spent days on. It was unwinding in places, and there was more than a few dropped stitches, but Forte had worked her hardest on it.

“You gave me something homemade, so I figured...” Forte’s face heated. This was dumb, she thought. She should have gotten something for her. 

Dolce stood. “You made this for me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s very sweet,” she said, taking it from Forte’s hands. 

“And--”

“And?”

“And I just. I wanted to say.” Forte looked to the floor, her face red and her heart stammering. “I just wanted to say, I think you’re beautiful, and kind, and I wanted to know if... if you wanted to go out. With me. Sometime.”

Dole placed the doily on her nightstand. “Are you asking me out?” she asked. 

“Yes.”

“Is this why you made this for me?”

“Yes.”

Dolce sighed. “Well, we’ll have to teach you to do better. I guess we can discuss it at dinner. Will you meet me at Porcoline’s around six?”

Forte stood stunned. Was that a yes?

“That sounds fantastic,” she said. Dolce smiled. 

“Very well. I’ll see you then.”

Forte nodded. She turned to leave, but as her hand fell to the doorknob, Dolce’s voice stopped her.

“One more thing,” she said. Forte turned, and Dolce was there right behind her. She leaned in, and before Forte could process what was happening, she opened up to her, like a summer flower blooms, and they kissed. 

It was a sweet, chaste thing, lasting no more than a moment, but it sent Forte’s heart soaring.

“That’s all,” Dolce said, softly. Forte let out a breath.

“Porco’s at six?”

“Wear something besides your armor.” Dolce winked at her. She nodded, and left, her heart still beating a staccato beat in her chest. 

Porco’s at six. She’d be there. And without her armor. 

Maybe, she thought, maybe she could get another kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted to my tumblr, heaven-asunder
> 
> Unedited so all mistakes are mine


End file.
